The Evening Star: WITH WHICH ARE INCORPORATED The Evening News, Morning News, and Echo. THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 4, 1892.

Auckland Star, Volume XXIII, Issue 29, 4 February 1892, Page 4

The Evening Star: WITH WHICH ARE INCORPORATED The Evening News, Morning News, and Echo.

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 4, 1892.

For tho catisa that lao_3 assistance, For tho wrron3 that needs rcEi-tance, For tho future in the distance, And tho gocd that -we can do.

When the distinguished surgeon, Sit Henry Thompson, nearly twenty years ago published a paper in the "Contem' porary Review " advocating the prac* . tice of cremation, his scheme encountered a perfect hurricane of opposition' In that there was nothing very wonder* ful. The introduction of railways, gas, the penny postage, and, indeed, every progressive measure ot the present cen- - tury, have each in turn been bewailed

by pessimists who saw in them nothing

but dangerous elements let loose iv

society. Our morning contemporary■.?■■' sees the beginning of the end in agraduated land tax, and the signs of ageneral smash-up in the taxation of absentees. Lord Salisbury sees dismemberment of the Empire in granting self-government to Ireland. So the contemporaries of Sir Henry Thompson discovered in his cremation scheme signs of the decay of healthy English

Some critics condemned the scheme merely because it was to the modern world a novelty, others clamoured against it as revolting and indecent, Some considered it a reversion from time-honoured Christian customs to paganism, while extremists' pronouced it impious, unscriptural, and a. profane attempt to interfere with the teaching of the Bible on the doctrine of resurrection. The society papers exhausted their wit, and if epigrams, cartoons, and satire would have maintained a cause, the old English system of interment would have remained intact tillthe trump of doom. , f Despite the opposition he met with, Sir Henry Thompson succeeded in forming an association known as the Cremation Society ot England. Its membership soon included a number of scientific men whose opinions could not fail to have weight with reasonable persons. Each member, upon joining the Society, subscribed the following declaration : "We disapprove the present custom of burying the deadi and desire to substitute some mode which shall rapidly resolve the body into its component parts by a process which cannot offend the living, and shall render the remains absolutely inoeuous. Until some better method be devised, we desire to adopt that usually known as cremation."

The legal difficulties connected with cremation for some time presented an almost insuperable barrier to the Society's progress. It was determined, however, to take such measures as should gradually familiar' ise the English mind with the project. A crematory was erected at Woking under the supervision of Professor Gorini, a distinguished Italian, and an earnest advocate of the practice in his native country. The opinion of counsel had already been obtained to the effect that cremation was not 'an illegal act provided no nuisance was created thereby. But popular feeling was still strong against any infringement of time-honoured customs, and it was not till a legal opinion had been delivered by Mr Justice Stephen in 1884 in favour of cremation that the Association ventured to offer the crematory for public purposes.

On the 20th March, 1885, the Woking crematory was used for the first time, Although its value in theory is now generally admitted, tbe English public but slowly adopt the practice. During the last six years some ten or twelve cremations per year represent the extent to which cremation has influenced the public mind. Dr. Cameron, memgow, introduced a Bill in bei? fef @lasmation into the House of favour of pF§ 1884, but although 79

voted for its second reading (I|t 0 f a House of 226, it is evident for many years to come there will je strong opposition .to the adoption „{ cremation on any scale that would j,jve an appreciable effect on interments in England.

On the Continent, the system has gt with much greater favour. In Italy especially, owing greatly to the drenuous exertions of Professor Gorini, ff hodevised a furnace specially adapted ( or the purpose, great progress "has made. For some time there was t onsiderable_ opposition, but since jS]b cremations have been permitted. p ur ing that time over 2,0c0 bodies have been cremated at Milan alone, and crematoriums have been erected a tCremona, Padua, Rome, and a number of other places. In France the

process is said to be rapidly growing in favour, and five years ago a large crematory was constructed in the famous cemetery of Pere la Chaise. In Germany considerable attention has been given to the subject, and crematio" bas a powerful body of supporters. A paper was recently read on cremation at Hobart, to which we are indebted for several interesting particulars. The occasion was the meeting ol the Australasian Association for the advancement of Science, and the proceedings show that in the colonies the subject is pushing itself to the front. Indeed, in the semi-tropical climate of Australia and the North of New Zealand, sanitary reasons will sooner or later press upon our attention the best means of disposal of the dead. In Melbourne, the old city cemetery, the scene of thousands of interments, is surrounded by a densely-populated district. In Auckland, Symonds-street Cemetery is unpleasantly near the city boundaries. We might go on multiplying cases. A little temporary relief jsgained by opening a cemetery a few miles out, but with the rapid growth of our cities population soon spreads around it.

Sir Lyon Playfair maintains that in most burial places " the dead are harming the living by destroying the soil, fouling the air, contaminating water springs and spreading the seeds ol disease." It is contended that burial gives no security for the destruction of disease germs ; that the earth has a preservative action on disease spores; that experiments have proved that cattle that died of the disease as cattle anthrax and had been buried for a year or two, became the source of infection to other cattle grazing over the ground. From a knowledge of these facts the conviction is growing, says a contemporary, " that cremation should be resorted to on all occasions where death has resulted from contagious or infectious disorders."

A movement to legislate in the direction of cremation was made in the New South Wales Legislature in 1886. A Bill was accepted by the Legislative Council, but never carried through the Lower House. Since that time the measure has been hung up, but it is likely to be pushed to the front again by th 6 growing conviction that cemeteries in the colonies are already hotbeds of disease. The prevalence of la grippe in both hemispheres shows the havoc that may be wrought by disease germs floating in the air. We have always held the opinion that there are many sound arguments in favour of cremation, and that the objections to it are largely based upon sentiment, which will not hold its own against the -testimony of sanitary science or reason. After the prejudice arising from usage and association has been overcome, the dissolution of the body by fire is really less repugnant to one's feelings than the slower progress of disintegration byexposure to.the elements which perform that work in the grave.